Texas Anna Gladden (' Smith, March 14, 1895 – May 23, 1966) Virginia Department of Health; Richmond, Virginia; Virginia Deaths, 1912-2014, 1885-96, at ''Ancestry,com''
Retrieved 5 December 2019] was an List of traditional singers, American folk singer, best known for her traditional

Appalachia Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ca ...

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

style of singing, which she began to record in the 1930s.

Life

She was born Texas Anna Smith, in Rich Valley,

Smyth County Smyth County is a county located in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 29,800. Its county seat is Marion. History Smyth County was formed on February 23, 1832, from Washington and Wythe counties. The county ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, the daughter of Alexander King Smith and his wife Sarah Louvenia (née Hammonds); the name Texas was taken from that of an aunt. She married Jim Gladden in 1912 at the age of seventeen. In 1930, the couple lived in

Salem, Virginia Salem is an independent city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,346. It is the county seat of Roanoke County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combin ...

with their seven children (she had nine in all); Liner notes for "Ballad Legacy - Alan Lomax Collection: Portrait" at ''Musical Traditions''
Retrieved 12 April 2014 Jim worked as a laborer. 1930 United States Federal Census record for Texas A Gladden, at ''Ancestry.com''
Retrieved 12 April 2014 She started to gain a public audience through singing at the White Top Festival in Smyth County in the mid 1930s, and made some early recordings for the Virginia Folklore Society. Stephen Wade, ''The Beautiful Music All Around Us: Field Recordings and the American Experience'', University of Illinois Press, 2012, pp.3, 237-266
/ref> In September 1941, along with her brother, musician

Hobart Smith Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

, she began to record with pioneer folk archivist and

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

Alan Lomax. The largest collection of her work, which includes 37 tracks of songs and interviews, is compiled on the album ''Texas Gladden: Ballad Legacy'', which Lomax produced as part of his '' Southern Journey'' series. This album contains traditional ballads of

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

origin, such as " Barbara Allen", "

Mary Hamilton "Mary Hamilton", or "The Fower Maries" ("The Four Marys"), is a common name for a well-known sixteenth-century ballad from Scotland based on an apparently fictional incident about a lady-in-waiting to a Queen of Scotland. It is Child Ballad 1 ...

", and " Lord Thomas", as well as regional songs and even a

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

-era

ghost story A ghost story is any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them."Ghost Stories" in Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''Oxford Companion to English Literature'' ...

. The album was reissued on CD by

Rounder Records Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by Al ...

in 2001. Texas Gladden died in hospital in

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is lo ...

, in 1966, and is buried at Salem. She did not enjoy much fame during her life and has remained a relatively obscure artist. Her work experienced a resurgence in popularity during the 1960s as she was referenced by

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...

. More recently her singing has been rediscovered through harpist Joanna Newsom's recording of the traditional Appalachian style song " Three Little Babes", recorded by Gladden as "The Three Babies".

References

External links

*Texas Gladden biography and review of '' Ballad Legacy'

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gladden, Texas 1895 births 1966 deaths American folk singers Singers from Virginia Appalachian culture People from Smyth County, Virginia 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers People from Salem, Virginia